


Meant to Be

by BrightestSun



Series: Au Yea August [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU August, AU Yeah AUgust (Miraculous Ladybug), Coming Out, F/M, FTM, FTM/F, Fluff, Maybe - Freeform, Romance, Soulmates, Trans Male Character, Trans male nathaniel, Witchcraft, can I do all of AU August?, don't know what tagging is, queer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 05:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15526593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightestSun/pseuds/BrightestSun
Summary: Chloé and Sabrina attempt to perform a ritual (from the internet) to figure out who Chloé's soulmate is. with both expected and unexpected results.





	Meant to Be

A match struck through the darkness, lighting two large candles for the seventh day. The candles stood, side by side, close enough for their sides to touch. Every day, they had been meticulously moved 10 centimeters closer to one another, and now their pairing was complete.

 

An image of Chloé was fastened to the left candle, a picture unlike any she would allow to see the light of day. In this image, her hair was down and uncombed, her lips, eyes and skin devoid of any trace of makeup, and she made no attempt to flirt with the camera. It was simply a natural expression on an all natural girl, except for her hair color, but Sabrina had made sure to not point that out.

 

The other candle was adorned with a wooden heart which Chloé had painstakingly carved herself, refusing both Sabrina and Jean her butler. She’d barely even complained about how tedious it was, not until she cut herself anyway, but she went back and finished the task the next day anyway, showing a kind of devotion Sabrina couldn’t remember having ever seen from her. The heart was pretty easily discernible as a heart, at least when you knew what it was. It was good for a first try.

 

The candle flames lit up the complete darkness of the room, just enough that the two girls could see one another, just enough that they could read the letters and words on the wooden board before them. It wasn’t called a spirit board. It had been branded and sold as an “angel guidance board”, but aside from the imagery, it was very evident what it was.

 

Sabrina looked over at Chloé, she couldn’t help but smile seeing the intense stare in her best friend’s eyes. She was looking into the fire of the heart locket candle, as though the boy of her dreams would actually emerge from its light and proclaim his undying ‘burning’ devotion to her. It was really sweet that Chloé believed in these things.

 

Sabrina looked at her watch. “That’s almost seven minutes now, Chloé. Are you ready?”

Chloé swallowed, her entire body tense like a loaded spring. She nodded, taking Sabrina’s hand firmly.

 

The two girls spoke in unison for the seventh and final time to complete the ritual. The first time had been a bit rocky, but now their voices chimed together perfectly uniform.

 

**_I am here, find me, in the entire world, there is only one me. I am perfect for you. Find me, there is only one you, you are perfect for me, I will find you. I am worthy of your perfect love, you are worthy of my perfect love, we will find one another._ **

**_I am here, come to me, you are there, I am coming to you… Make yourself known to me, and I will make myself known to you!_ **

 

The two girls held their breath and both placed their hands on the angel board. Chloé’s lips were pressed into a thin line, a small line of sweat beading down the side of her cheek, Sabrina could almost hear her thoughts going ‘please work’ over and over again. She knew better than to ask her friend if she was ready, or to break her concentration. 

 

There was nothing more she could really do, except move the Planchette softly along the board to ‘build up the energy’. They allowed it to find the four corners and the four sides, and then let it rest, at the center of the board.

 

Sabrina waited patiently, looking at Chloé whose face was bathed in sweat, her eyes staring at the board with enough intensity to burn a hole through it. Sabrina could see her friend’s hands tremble slightly, her lips moving as she tried to find the words.

 

“Is there… someone here?” She asked hesitantly, hopefully.

 

The silence of the room was deafening. Sabrina swore she could practically hear Chloé’s heart beating. She waited until the moment Chloé’s eyes lost focus, the moment she lost faith that this would work for just a second, and then Sabrina moved the planchette, slowly over to the ‘yes’ indicated on the board. 

 

Chloé practically shrieked with a mix of emotions, she looked up at Sabrina who was doing her absolute best to look just as shocked as the blonde girl, which wouldn’t be possible. Chloé truly looked like she’d seen a ghost, which she thought she’d had.

 

Sabrina looked at Chloé wordlessly, her eyes guiding Chloé’s down to the board again. Chloé had let go, but Sabrina hadn’t, which was good cause according to the website at least one person always had to be holding onto it, or the energies were lost or whatever.

 

Chloé took a deep breath through her nose and once again placed her hands on the wooden puck. She swallowed and looked into Sabrina’s eyes. She looked at her with such hope, she really trusted that Sabrina would never lie to her. Sabrina felt a twinge of guilt for faking the ritual, but she couldn’t let her find out it was fake, not after all the pain and effort Chloé had put into it, it would break her heart!

 

Chloé wet her lips, staring down onto the wooden board, holding her breath between every question, as though breathing or blinking would make the magic disappear.

 

“Are… are you an angel?”

 

‘Y E S’

 

“Do you know me?”

 

‘Y E S’

 

“Do I have a soulmate?”

 

‘Y E S’

 

“What is his name!?”

 

Chloé bit her lower lip; she glared up at Sabrina for a second, as if warning her against moving a muscle and ruining the angel’s answer. Sabrina swallowed. She barely had to pretend to be as nervous as Chloé, though she was more nervous about being caught than about if the ‘angel’ would confirm Chloé’s crush. 

 

Sabrina allowed the board to stand still again for a few moments, letting Chloé once again to get to the brink of her patience before she moved it to the A, causing Chloé to gasp audibly, smiling up at Sabrina and down at the board, wordlessly saying “You see!? You see!?”. 

 

A small mischievous urge tickled at the back of Sabrina’s head as she moved the planchette past the D without resting on it. She savored the look of utter disbelief in Chloé’s eyes as it came to rest on the G. She let it painfully slowly dance across the board, R, E, S, T and finally E.

 

“AGRESTE! That’s Adrikinses last name! He IS my soulmate, Sabrina! I knew it, I knew it!”

“That’s so great, Chloé! I never had any doubt!”

 

“Well, of course, it’s like, obvious that we’re perfect together, but it’s nice to know that it’s totally meant to be!”

 

Chloé laughed, the relief and worry leaving her quickly. The tension she’d been building up to this moment for an entire week had finally been released and she couldn’t be happier. Sabrina was surprised to notice Chloé’s hands still firmly planted on the plachette, it looked like it had taken all of Chloé’s self-control to not jump up to run a victory lap.

 

Sabrina braced herself for what was bound to be an hour of her coming up with answers about their first date, how many children they would have and what flavor their wedding cake should be. She tried hiding her sigh from Chloé. 

 

She knew that all the answers had to be correct, and knew some of the more immediate answers given would possibly require her to pull some stunts. Like the time she stole a letter from the mailman and put it with Chloé’s mail so she’d think a letter was brought to her accidentally and gave her a chance to talk to her crush. She wondered if everyone who truly believed in destiny and higher powers actually just had a great friend like her working behind the scenes.

 

Chloé looked dreamily at the board, the intense stare having been washed away by satisfaction, leaving only curiosity. Sabrina could see the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out what about her destiny she wanted to know. To Sabrina’s surprise, Chloé looked up at her with a soft smile.

 

“What about Sabrina? What’s the name of her soulmate?”

 

Sabrina felt a cold knot gripping her stomach. She was not prepared for that question and she did NOT know what to answer. If she gave a name, Chloé would spend the rest of eternity chasing away any guy who didn’t happen to have that name! Sabrina didn’t even like anyone like that, what was she supposed to say!? 

 

She swallowed, realizing it had already been a while without an answer. She had to come up with something. Maybe if she just spelled out ‘none’ Chloé would believe that she wasn’t destined to be with anyone. That might be for the best. The thought of saying she wasn’t supposed to be with anyone made her a bit sad though.

 

Sabrina suddenly felt the wooden instrument moving under her fingers, she immediately yanked it back to the middle.

 

“Quit it Chloé!” she said, looking up at Chloé with a panicked expression. Chloé looked up at her, confused and a bit worried.

 

“I didn’t move it, did you?”

 

“Uh… not before of course, but… just now I panicked.” Sabrina swallowed. She’d messed up. If Chloé found out she’d faked the whole thing there would be hell to pay. Chloé’s eyes weren’t accusatory though, they were playful and happy.

 

“Aww, you’re nervous about knowing who you’re going to date? I understand, we can’t always end up with someone amazing like Adrikins, but I’m sure you’ll be happy, even if you’re destined to end up with someone who is fat or has glasses or whatever.”

 

Sabrina shrugged, letting Chloé think that she’d hit the nail on the head. She decided to ignore people with glasses being pitted with fat people, for the sake of her glasses-wearing sanity. 

 

She concluded that Chloé must have never taken it as seriously as she thought. She was messing with her, she must have known the whole time. Well, whatever answer she was going to come up with was fine. Maybe Chloé was trying to set her up on another date. It couldn’t go worse than last time, but it was nice that she tried.

 

The two girls returned their focus to the planchette, which began moving in the same direction as before. Sabrina definitely wasn’t moving it, but it worried her that it had started moving while Chloé looked like she was about to say something. It really seemed neither of them had been paying attention to the board until it moved. Chloé might be a better actress than Sabrina usually gave her credit for.

 

N A T H A N I E L was spelled out on the board as the two girls watched it wordlessly.

 

“Nathaniel! Your future husband’s name is Nathaniel!” Chloé beamed at her. Sabrina couldn’t remember ever having seen Chloé so enthusiastic about something that didn’t have to do with herself. It was hard to imagine she wasn’t scheming something.

 

“Haha… great! So, um… do you know anyone named Nathaniel?” She asked, expecting Chloé to pull out a photo of her next blind date. Instead, Chloé shook her head.

 

“No one comes to mind. It must be someone we haven’t met yet. You seem like the type who would meet your future husband in college.” Chloé said matter-of-factly. Sabrina tried not to equate that with Chloé saying she was undesirable right now.

 

“Maybe,” she smiled “let’s talk about something else, ok?”

 

“Oh! How many babies will Adrikins and me have?” Chloé’s attention shot back to the board as she asked with eyes that gleamed with excitement. Sabrina sighed, smiled at her friend, and began answering question after question, from the theme of Chloé’s wedding to the number of vacations she’d have to Hawaii.

 

After Chloé’s barrage of questions finally ended and Sabrina had a moment alone, she meticulously wrote down every answer she gave Chloé in order to make sure nothing proved them wrong. 

 

She got all questions down except one, which she deemed unimportant because it wasn’t about Chloé. She later half forgot the answer but remembered that Chloé had for one moment thought of Sabrina instead of herself, which was an amazing feeling.

  
  


It was almost a year later when Chloé called Sabrina in the middle of the night, practically shrieking excitedly into her ear.

 

“You’re a lesbian!” Chloé shouted excitedly.

 

“I’m… what…?” Sabrina sat up in bed, still half asleep, her ears ringing from Chloé’s shrill voice. She squinted through her half-blind eyes at the time, little past 2. What kind of game was Chloé playing?

 

“You’re a lesbo!” she said again. Sabrina was trying to comprehend what Chloé could mean. Maybe her outfit or haircut had suddenly been claimed by Ellen or something like that. Sabrina didn’t really like anyone, but she was pretty sure she was straight.

 

“Why am I a lesbo, Chloé? And why can’t it wait until morning?” She asked exhaustedly. They’d done fitness during the day so her body was sore, and she’d spend the rest of the day working out two separate science reports, one for Chloé, one for herself, so her mind was sore too. She was very much not in the mood for Chloé’s mind games or teasing.

 

“Check Facebook! Laura from class just made a post that you HAVE to see!”

 

“Does it have to be right now…?” Sabrina rubbed her eyes, already putting her phone on speaker and opened facebook, knowing there was no arguing with Chloé when she was like this. Heck, there was no real arguing with Chloé regardless of what mood she was in.

 

Sabrina found the post Chloé must be talking about. She sighed, it was pretty long. It had a picture attached. At a glance, it looked like it was a long post explaining her new shorter haircut and profile pic. She did look a lot like a lesbian. Black hoodie, t-shirt, and boyish haircut. 

 

Was this a coming out post? Could be. Laura had always been a bit… queer. She always changed by herself for gym class for some reason. Maybe this was why, though Sabrina would think a lesbian would LIKE being in the shower with her classmates. But what would Chloé think that Laura being gay had to do with Sabrina? Oh god, she’d better not proclaim her undying love for her or something in this post. They’d never even spoken more than a few lines!

 

“So, did you read it!?” Chloé asked excitedly.

 

“Not yet, my glasses are in the bathroom so I have to squint.” She’s also gotten distracted, but as far as lies go, at least this was half true.

 

“Why wouldn’t you have them next to your bed?”

 

“It’s… a long story” Sabrina would occasionally flail in her sleep. She’d lost a few things from her nightstand which she’d apparently picked up and thrown violently while asleep. She only had to lose one pair of glasses like that to stop keeping them near her bed.

 

“Whatever! Just read it!”

 

Sabrina sighed and started reading the small text on her phone so close to her face her nose occasionally pressed against the glass.

 

_ Hey everyone! _

_ This will be a surprise to some, some of you already know. You might be surprised by the name of this profile, I used to be named Laura. I hope no one will be too surprised though. Big things out of the way first. I’m a boy, I’ve known it for a while and I’m finally ready to say it out loud to everyone. My name is Nathaniel, but you can call me Nate. I’m what they call Transgender (not transvestite grandma) and that’s pretty much it. _

_ So I’d really appreciate it (especially @chloébourgeois ) if you respect my pronouns (he/him) and called me Nate from now on. _

_ Anyway, I love all of you and I hope you’ll all love me! _

 

Sabrina squinted. She realized the profile name had been changed to Nathaniel as well. She hadn’t noticed that before. It was a lot to take in during her still drowsy state. With all of her questions, one was much more dominant in her mind than any other.

 

“What does all of this have to do with me, Chloé?” She asked exasperated, wishing desperately to fall back on her pillow and catch the last few sweet hours of rest before tomorrow’s German quiz.

 

“Uh, hello!? Don’t you remember! Your Soulmate! Laura is totally the love of your life! Nate, I mean!”

 

Sabrina remembered the night of their little séance and simply groaned. She couldn’t possibly be serious.

 

“Can we talk about this tomorrow…?”

 

“Of course! I’ll get things ready!” Chloé’s voice was replaced with a beep and then silence. Sabrina looked at her phone for a moment, worried about what she could mean by that, but then decided to not worry about it now. 

 

She checked to make sure her alarm was still set and slid the phone back under her bed, where hopefully Sleepybrina wouldn’t be able to get to it, then fell mercifully quickly back to sleep.

 

Chloé looked a bit messy the next morning. Not messy the same way Sabrina did on her bad hair days or days off, but still less on point than usual. She was noticeably excited as she pulled up in the morning next to Sabrina.

 

“Morning!” She greeted Sabrina.

 

“Morning, Chloé.” She smiled back.

 

“So, I stayed up late and looked stuff up! I’m sorry about what I said last night. It turns out you’re not a lesbo.” She tapped her phone and found an image which she showed Sabrina of a hunky looking model. He looked rugged and handsome and probably late 20’s, not at all Chloé’s usual boyish type.

 

“Who’s this?”

 

“This is Aydian Dowling! He’s like Nate, FtM they call it. Female to Male. This guy used to be a girl too, or… you’re not supposed to say that, he was… mistaken for a girl? Something like that. Point is, Nathaniel will probably look like him one day! He just needs to start hormones and stuff.”

 

Sabrina looked at the pictures of the shirtless man. He looked like a total hunk like he was sculpted in marble. The kind of guy who could play a superhero. “No way.” She scoffed up at Chloé, she had to be playing something. There was no way a girl could ever end up looking like that.

 

“Way! So, I totally understand why you like him. You can get to him before he starts looking like a hunk, that way no one else will snatch him up! It’s like an early investment!” She smiled.

 

Sabrina felt like her head was spinning, trying to keep up with Chloé’s train of thought.

“Why do you insist that I need to love him?” She said defensively.

 

Chloé gave her a sly smile. “Well, anyone could say that Adrien was my soulmate. AND anyone could have made it up! I know you wouldn’t cheat, but I’ve heard that sometimes if you want it enough, you can actually write out what you want. Subconsciously or whatever! BUT! None of us could have known this would happen, let alone the name he’d choose, so if you and Nate are meant for one another…!” Sabrina felt her stomach sink, Chloé really believed that it was likelier that she cheated herself than that Sabrina cheated. 

 

“… then that would prove that you and Adrien were too…” Amazing, Chloé had somehow managed to make Sabrina’s love life about herself. Just great. It almost erased the feeling of guilt she had for having actually cheated that night. She couldn’t believe Chloé trusted her that much.

 

Chloé smiled at her and winked.

 

“I don’t know about this… I haven’t ever even really talked to Laura-“

 

“-Nate”

 

“to Nate… What if I don’t like him?”

 

Chloé shrugged. “I’m sure you will! But if you don’t then you don’t. Just please promise me to give him a chance? For me? Just go on a date with him! Just one date!” Chloé looked at Sabrina with pleading eyes usually reserved for Adrien and asking her dad for ludicrous sums of money. 

 

Sabrina was so used to just doing what Chloé said that she wasn’t used to actually being asked. It was really nice.

 

She sighed. “Of course, I’ll go on a date with him. But I doubt he’d wanna go with me anyway.”

 

Chloé smiled smugly. “You just leave that to me.”

 

Chloé skipped towards the school entrance, practically walking on air. Sabrina scratched her neck worriedly. This could only end badly.

“NATHANIEL!” Chloé burst into the classroom where everyone was already surrounding the red-headed artist, on his first day of school as a boy. Everyone turned to Chloé and Sabrina and everyone’s faces were painted with worry, the worry of what Chloé might do or say to Nate, who was clearly still not completely confident about his new identity.

 

“Um… morning, Chloé.” He said hesitantly. Sabrina noted that he was trying to make his voice deeper and smoother sounding. It was kind of working, kind of. He wore a baggy hoodie, but the curve of his chest was still mildly visible under his clothes. Still, he looked quite good. Not much had changed except the hair and the clothes, but somehow he felt completely different.

 

“Frankly I’m hurt, Nathaniel! That you felt the need to call me out specifically on Facebook like I wouldn’t be supportive!”

 

Nate stood stunned, scratching the back of his head nervously, trying to think of an answer.

“Well, can you really blame him?” Alya came in from the side. “You don’t have a great track record with supporting your classmates.”

  
  


Sabrina swallowed, whenever Alya and Chloé talked it always seemed to end in high tempers, and often with Sabrina having to listen to a rant about how right Chloé was, she wondered if maybe Chloé would be better at admitting when she was wrong if she wasn’t always called out by the journalistic hothead.

 

She wondered if maybe she should step in to defuse the situation but she didn’t know what to say and she felt like stepping between them would be like jumping in between a lion and a tiger.

 

“I am SO supportive! Right!?” She looked at Rose and Juleka expectantly, catching the two girls off guard.

 

“Uh, well…” Rose started, thinking over her interactions with Chloé. “I guess you’ve never been UNsupportive of our relationship?” she shrugged.

 

“That’s right! We might not always get along, but that doesn’t make me a monster! I’m none of the phobes, homo or trans!” Chloé crossed her arms and looked accusingly at Alya.

 

Alya sighed. “I guess that’s true… but you don’t get points in my book for not being THAT much of a monster. Being supportive is not the same as simply not attacking people for being themselves.”

 

Chloé nodded. “Of course! And I think we could all stand to be more supportive. That’s why I’m taking Nate shopping for a binder after class.”

 

“That’s nice of you Chloé, but I can’t afford one right now.”

 

“Nonsense! I’ll pay for it of course! It’s the least I can do!” Chloé gave Alya an obvious look which conveyed something like ‘how’s that for supportive’.

 

“You don’t have to do that-” Nate started, but Chloé made it clear that she would hear nothing of it. It took Nate less time to come around than Sabrina had expected. 

 

It seemed like getting a binder was like a big transgender ritual. It was rare for Sabrina to be in a situation where Chloé apparently knew a ton about something she knew nothing about. She hadn’t felt that way since Chloé first showed her how to do makeup.

The school day felt like it was over quickly. Only one of the day’s four teachers apparently hadn’t gotten the notice about Nathaniel and called out the wrong name, which Chloé immediately pointed out and berated. 

 

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The German test was a breeze and Nate, Chloé and Sabrina soon found themselves on their way to shop for binders.

 

“Oh, I just remembered I have to go!” Chloé suddenly chimed up as they neared the outdoor mall.

 

Nate looked a bit disappointed. “That’s alright, we can postpone.”

 

“Nonsense! Here!” Chloé handed Sabrina one of her credit cards and winked at her. “You guys just go without me. Buy yourself a new wardrobe while you’re at it! You look like you’re wearing your grandfather’s clothes!”

 

With that Chloé ran off, leaving Nate and Sabrina awkwardly on the sidewalk.

 

“So, um… should we go buy some binders?” Sabrina asked, giving him a nervous smile.

 

“I guess?” He smiled back just as awkwardly.

 

The two of them made it to the mall. Sabrina looked around for what store to visit first.

 

“Can I ask you something?” Sabrina asked.

 

“Of course.” He said nervously, clearly guarded and expecting something terrible, which Sabrina hoped her question wasn’t.

 

“What does getting a new binder have to do with being trans?”

 

“Oh… well isn’t it pretty obvious?”

 

“I mean, I guess there’s gotta be a lot of paperwork involved, changing your name and such?”

 

“What do you mean..?”

 

“You know, so you’d put your trans-papers in… your new binder…?” Nate’s eyes grew wide and he soon let out a soft chuckle. It occurred to Sabrina that she’d said something dumb. She could only stand and watch with an increasingly red face as Nate laughed at her.

 

“It’s not that funny!” She said defensively, trying to save her pride. “I don’t know anything about this stuff!”

 

Nate finished laughing, looking at her with a wide grin. “It’s ok, honestly I’m just glad you didn’t ask me about my…” He gestured at his crotch area.

 

“Ew! Why would I!?”

 

“I don’t know! But it seems like everyone has questions about it!”

 

“Ew! Well, I can assure you I couldn’t care less about your… stuff!” She gave him a disgusted look. “Wait… does that make me a homophobe? If I don’t ask?”

 

“God no! Maybe the opposite actually. And it’s transphobia if it has to do with trans people. I’m not gay, I like girls.” He smiled at her.

 

Sabrina had to turn the sentence over in her head a few times.

 

“That makes sense, I guess. So ok, teach my apparently ignorant self, what pray tell IS the binder for?”

 

He chuckled again for a moment, then placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll show you.” He smiled.

 

A few moments later the world made a bit more sense as Sabrina was watching Nate try on t-shirts equipped with a new binder. Turns out it was a special bra that smushed his chest area completely flat. 

 

Seeing him in a t-shirt, now completely flat chested it made a huge difference. She could see why it was important to him. She wouldn’t be able to pick him out as the transguy amongst the guys in her class, not when he was wearing that. It was kind of amazing.

 

“Does it hurt?”

 

“It squeezes the area a tiny bit, but it’s nothing really. It’ll lessen when it expands a bit. I can only wear it for like eight hours at a time though, tops. So I don’t expose my chest to too much strain, ykno?”

 

“I don’t, but I can imagine.” She smiled, picturing the pain of mashing her breasts into nothingness.

 

“I’m really glad to start out with a proper one of these… A lot of guys like me start by compressing their chest with various types of bandages and sports bras that are too small and it’s supposed to be super unhealthy for your ribs and back.”

 

“Why wouldn’t they just get binders too?”

 

“Price for one thing and they aren’t available everywhere. We’re lucky to live in a big and open-minded city like Paris where they’ve started having them in normal stores, but you used to have to order them online. Some people still have to.”

 

“Well, it suits you a lot better than that hoodie.” She smiled at him, which he didn’t see. He was completely caught up in looking at his chest from every direction in the mirror, looking over the new him. He looked completely enthralled, so she gave him a moment to get used to it.

 

“What do you think?” He finally asked her, motioning down at the clothes he was trying, clearly not very confident in it.

 

Sabrina shook her head. “Gray on gray on black? Come on, you’re an artist, right? You know that’s just boring.”

 

He scratched the back of his head apologetically. “Haha… I just… every colorful thing I see, I can’t help asking myself ‘is this a girly color?’”

 

Sabrina scoffed. “Please! Boy and girl colors are for baby showers, everything else is context. Besides, there’s nothing manlier than…” She looked around the store, picking out a t-shirt, “fire red”. She held the shirt up against him, gauging if it would look good on him. “It matches your hair.”

 

“I don’t know… isn’t red kinda girly?”

 

Sabrina scoffed again. “Just put it on macho man, just to try it, for my sake at least.” She did her best pleading Chloé impression. It felt forced and unnatural, apparently to Nate as well.

 

“Ok ok, sure I’ll put it on, just stop making that creepy face!” He chuckled.

 

“Shut up!” She laughed as well, punching his arm softly.

 

Nate got changed and emerged wearing the red shirt.

 

“I don’t know about this, I feel kind of exposed.” He looked in the mirror, checking to see if any curves bulged through.

 

“Just don’t go on the Enterprise, you should be alright.” Sabrina chuckled, then bit her lip. She’d buried Geekbrina a long time ago and she hated when she dug herself out.

Nathan gasped. “You like Star Trek!?” He asked, eyes practically sparkling.

 

Sabrina looked away defensively scoffing. “As if! Not even, like… I just watched like one episode! What even is Star Trek!?”

 

Nathaniel excitedly walked to his bag, Sabrina was about to tell him not to dare write anyone about her being a huge geek, but instead of his phone, he pulled out a sketchbook. 

 

He flipped through to an amazing pencil sketch of the Enterprise. The next sketch was the deck with all the characters drawn. Kirk and Picard were having an argument around the captain’s chair. It made Sabrina giggle.

 

“Admit it, you’ve watched more than one episode.” He smiled broadly at her.

 

“Ok, maybe a little more than one episode! My dad loves it so…”

 

“So you love it too?” He asked teasingly.

 

“Alright, yes! It’s great! It’s so dumb and I love it!”

 

Nate laughed. “Yes! Kirk or Picard?”

 

“Picard obviously!  The real question is USS Enterprise or USS Enterprise-A?"

 

“How can I possibly choose?!”

 

Sabrina chuckled “well that’s the point of asking questions like this right?” Anyway, the shirt looks good on you. Way better than the plain gray one. The symbol is cool too.”

 

He looked in the mirror again, contemplating. “I still feel kind of exposed…”

 

“You look great! But if you feel exposed, wear the jacket from before?”

 

He grabbed the gray jacket and threw it on. He looked into the mirror, checking himself out. He looked pretty happy, but then a melancholy look came over his face.

 

“Oh no, you don’t like it after all?”

 

“No, it’s just… I was so scared to come out… Heck, I was the most scared of Chloé and my parents and Chloé’s funding my binder and my parents are really supportive. It just… It feels so dumb! I should have come out two years ago when I first knew for sure…” He looked sadly at his reflection. “I could have been this guy instead of being completely miserable… Seriously, what’s wrong with me?”

 

He tried laughing it off but it was clear that he was upset.

 

Sabrina wasn’t sure what to do, part of her wanted to hug him, but that might be really awkward.

 

“I think I know what you mean…”

 

“No, you don’t… How could you?”

 

Sabrina looked around, making sure Chloé wasn’t spying on them from somewhere. She sighed. “I’ve been doing everything Chloé told me to do for almost 5 years now. My entire life revolves around it. I think this is the first time pretty much ever that I’ve been out with someone who wasn’t Chloé.

I didn’t have any friends before her, and I’m so terrified of telling her how I really feel that I never even try. Everyone’s afraid of what Chloé might do, but I don’t think anyone’s more scared of her than me, because if she decided I wasn’t worthy of her friendship anymore I’d be all alone again. 

So, I think I get living in fear of not being able to be the way you want because of what others will do or say… Unlike you, I just haven’t had the courage to be myself yet. I gave up everything I liked so Chloé would like me. Video games, Star Trek…” She looked up at Nate, unsure if she could bring herself to say the last one. His sympathetic eyes made her feel comfortable, she wanted to tell him. “… fanfiction…” she whispered.

 

Nate walked over and sat down next to her. He tapped his fingers together contemplatively. “Maybe you do understand a little. I think I understand you a little too. I’ll tell you this though, if our situations are alike, then you’ll feel a hundred times better if you ‘come out’. It’s never worth it to live a lie because you think that’s what other people want.”

 

Sabrina brushed her nose with the back of her hand, sniffling, holding back tears. “What if she hates me?”

 

He put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a sympathetic smile. “Then you’ll have me. And everyone else in class will love you too. You might have to say sorry to a few people, but I’ll help you.” His smile made her believe him, believe that he really would help her stand on her own two legs. She became intimately aware that the two of them were sitting very close. She could feel her heart beginning to beat faster as she looked into his eyes. She realized she was close enough to lean in to kiss him.

 

Sabrina flew up from the seat, taking a few steps away from Nathaniel, feeling the redness beaming off of her face. At least she could blame the almost crying. She stood with her back to him, hiding her face, unsure how she was feeling.

 

“Is everything alright?” He asked concerned.

 

“Yes! Yea, I’m great! I just realized this was supposed to be your day and I made it my personal pity party!”

 

He chuckled. “It’s alright. I’ve gotten a lot of pity since I started coming out to my close friends. You don’t treat me like a porcelain doll, it’s really nice.”

 

“I guess, ‘cause I’m a porcelain doll myself.”

 

“That’s alright, you just need someone strong to protect you then.”

 

“You?”

 

“I don’t see anyone else around.”

 

Sabrina scoffed. “Not with those noodle arms of yours.”

 

“Hey, I’m training! I’ll get real buff, real fast!”

 

“I’ll need to see it to believe it.”

 

“At least I’m stronger than you.”

 

“Doubt it.”

 

“Oh yea!?”

 

Way to deal with your feelings Sabrina, now you’re arm wrestling the guy you probably like. Correction, she was beating the guy she almost certainly liked in arm wrestling, 5 times in a row.

 

“How are you so strong!?” Nate asked bewildered, looking at Sabrina as though looking for the place where her super-strong-robot-arm began.

 

She smiled. “My dad’s made me take a few self-defense classes since I was 8. It's a dangerous world for a small girl and as a cop, he’s seen some of the worst. I could probably kick anyone in class in hand to hand. Not that I’d ever want to, I know that’s weird…” She smiled apologetically.

 

She expected Nate to look at her like Chloé did when she first saw Sabrina without her layers, disgusted and confused. Instead, Nate was looking at her in awe, like he’d seen Wonder Woman.

 

“That’s so cool!”

 

“I don’t know, Chloé says guys hate girls that are stronger than them.” She shrank.

 

“Are you kidding!? I think it’s amazing! And super hot!” Nate put a hand over his mouth, a strong blush appearing quickly on his face to match Sabrina’s own.

 

The two of them wordlessly went looking for a few other things for Nate to try. They met moments later at the same sofa, mutual silent agreement to reset the conversation, smiling sheepishly at one another.

 

“I’m surprised at the way Chloé reacted though,” Nathaniel noted, trying on a flannel shirt and deciding against it.

 

“Yea…” Sabrina looked away, unsure what to say.

 

“For real, is she trying to pull something? Is this going to come back to bite me in the ass?”

 

“No no, nothing like that,” Sabrina assured him.

 

“It’s just… it feels like a scheme.” He showed off a black leather jacket to Sabrina who shook her head. He looked like he was trying to join a gang.

 

“I mean… it’s not… not a scheme. In a strange sort of way.” She admitted.

 

“Should I be worried?” He asked, half-jokingly.

 

“Maybe.” She chuckled “I should probably be too.”

 

“Come on, I’m not gonna be able to sleep if you say that!”

 

She chuckled. “Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone, ok?”

 

He nodded, sitting down next to her again, smiling with anticipation. Sabrina ran her fingers through her hair, figuring out where to begin, and decided to start with Chloé asking her to look up spells that would find your soul mate, and then she told Nate everything from then on.

 

When she finished Nate was stunned with emotions, his hand covering his mouth and his eyes amused.

 

“And, yea, that’s pretty much it…” She said, waiting for him to berate her or something.

Nate sat barely containing his laughter. “So, Chloé thinks I’m your soulmate?” He asked amused. Sabrina nodded, smiling. “And the whole reason behind this is so she could get us on a date and prove that she’s meant to be with her Adrikins?” She nodded again. “But you cheated to get her Adrien’s name?” He burst out laughing.

 

“Shush! Chloé can NEVER find out about that part! I shouldn’t even have told you!”

 

“But you just couldn’t help it. Must be because I’m your soulmate.” He smiled cockily.

 

“Shut up!” She smiled, punching him in the arm again.

 

“For real though, do you think I’m your soulmate?” He asked. He sounded like he was joking, but his eyes were genuinely curious.

 

“You wish lover-boy! We make our own destiny!”

 

“Well…” He went quiet, rubbing his hands together and swallowing a lump. “Can you make a destiny where we go on a date?” He asked, his eyes were hopeful for just a moment as he looked up at her surprised face. Meeting her eyes it was clear that he immediately regretted asking her out like that. “I mean… like… um… more of a friend type… um…”

 

Sabrina blushed, but his nervousness somehow made it easier for her. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Depends, how do you plan to woe me?” She asked jokingly, but his eyes darted back to hers with more seriousness than she’d expected.

 

“A pretty girl like you? You deserve only the most high class of dates! We’ll meet at my house, make popcorn, and watch the episodes of Star Trek you are missing because of Chloé. Then we can talk about our favorite pairings.” He smiled.

 

Sabrina could feel her heart melt. She half-heartedly punched his arm again, accidentally using more force than she wanted. He rubbed the sore area. “That… sounds alright…” She said, trying to make sure to keep away from kissing distance. 

 

She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to manage a whole date on a couch if they sat even a little close. But ending up kissing this dumb dork might not be the worst thing.

 

**Author's Note:**

> omg working on AU Yea August has been fun and stressful, can I post 100k words for August? (the majority about Sabrina) I don't think that was supposed to be the challenge but it heck as sure has become that for me, we'll see how it goes.
> 
> check out AU Yea August:  
> https://auyeahaugust.tumblr.com/
> 
> also I have a tumblr I guess:  
> https://sabrinaprotectionsquad.tumblr.com/


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